Kaylee W

   

Cellphones by Kaylee W.

According to research, 85% of teens aged 14-17 have cell phones. So do 96% of aged 11-14 year olds, and 31% of kids aged 8-10 (Davis). Despite what some people believe, most of these children actually need phones, especially teens. Teens need phones for many reasons like: it helps parents keep track of children, helps children learn responsibility, keeps children in contact with parents and relatives during after school activities, and it helps children connect with the world in many ways.  

Phones help parents keep track of teens when they are out in public, or when they are out with their friends. When teens are out, they tend to wander off. If your child doesn't  have a phone, then you might not have a way to contact or find him or her. As opposed to, if a child does have a phone, then you can easily use a tracking app (like for instance, Find My Friends) to find out where they are. Not only can the parent keep in touch with the child, it also helps teens keep in touch with their parents. 

Most teens go to school, and whether it's a public school or a private one, they need a way to get home. Many children ride the bus home on some days, with occasional parent-pickup days. These teens need a way to know how to go home, on car or bus? Well, a phone can help with that! The child can contact the guardian and ask. This is better than taking a chance and possibly making the wrong choice. Having experienced this before, I know that it is scary getting in trouble for not having the right information for how to get home.

If a child has a phone, it helps him or her to learn responsibility. Phones are very valuable, and that's why they sell for so much. But the problem is that they aren't very durable, meaning they crack easily. When a child cracks his or her for the first time it shows him or her how fragile it is and how it should be taken care of. Or if a child doesn't crack it, you know that he or she is responsible enough for some things. When a child first loses a phone, he or she realizes how “hard” life is without the luxury of always social media at your fingertips. So, the child makes sure to never lose it again. When the child makes a wrong decision on a phone, than he or she can learn from it and make sure that the same mistake is never made again! When teens have access to the internet, they can learn about the, always changing, world around them! Even if you don't want them to have access to this, they can learn from their mistakes that they make on the internet!

 In conclusion, phones helps teach kids responsibility, they help kids keep in touch with their parents (and vise versa), and lastly, they help teens stay in touch with the world! Thus, this is why teens need phones.